Month: March 2020

In view of the special period of the epidemic, all industry-related conferences and exhibitions were canceled. In order to better serve member companies, help companies resume work and production, play a role in stabilizing the industry, unite all colleagues to develop in a group, and spend the epidemic period together, understand the resumption of production and production of e-cigarette companies during the epidemic, and to timely grasp the dynamics of member companies and the serious problems facing the current epidemic abroad, the Secretary-General of the E-cigarette Industry Committee, Ao Weinuo, and his party respectively visited the executive vice-chairman enterprises of the Association this week. Shenzhen Green Sound Technology Co., Ltd., Vice President Unit Shenzhen Buddy Technology Development Co., Ltd., Dongguan Yihai Electronics Co., Ltd., Shenzhen ALD Electronics Co., Ltd., Executive Director Unit Shenzhen Smiss Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. were visited by the secretary-general.

Shenzhen Green Sound Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as Green Sound) is a comprehensive technology company specializing in the research, development, production, sales and service of electronic cigarettes. The company always adheres to independent innovation, and has a stable customer base and a good reputation in the domestic and international markets with solid quality control and perfect after-sales service. Chairman Huang Guihua briefed the Secretariat on the current situation of electronic cigarettes in foreign markets. Due to the impact of the epidemic, experiential physical stores in the United States, Europe, and the United Kingdom have been required to close, but the e-cigarette wholesale channels are still open without being affected, and users can normally purchase e-cigarette products. The current market demand is very large. As the global epidemic continues to spread, it will inevitably affect international logistics and transportation. She suggested that the secretariat should take the lead in the industry when necessary, integrate relevant industry resources to make emergency plans, and contact the airlines to form charter flights for future use. Need. Regarding the future development form of the industry, Huang Dong said that opportunities always coexist with challenges. The application range of electronic cigarette technology is very wide. With the continuous improvement of vaping technology, the vaping industry will definitely develop toward diversification, such as health care. And medical products. Huang Dong also expressed his views on the current shortage of supply of batteries in the supply chain. The difficulties faced by the industry are temporary. Especially in special times, everyone should integrate resources, cooperate and standardize development, and face the difficulties. We also hope that all supply chains can build an orderly and healthy system based on the principle of long-term cooperative supply chain. It has helped the electronic cigarette industry to become stronger and bigger and to continue its healthy development.

Shenzhen Buddy Technology Development Co., Ltd. (Buddy for short) was established in 2008. The headquarter is located in Shenzhen Baoan Fuyong Buddy Innovation and Technology Park. During Buddy’s visit, Secretary-General Ao Weinuo asked Chairman Liu Xiang whether there were any shortages in the supply of electronic cigarette batteries, micro beads, heating wires and other supporting products. President Liu said that the tight supply in the supply chain is indeed a problem facing enterprises at present, but he believes that this situation is only temporary. After everything returns to normal, the problem will be solved. Under the influence of the epidemic, facing external huge uncertainties, enterprises should change external uncertainties based on internal certainty, including product technology research and development, product positioning, etc., make predictions, research and judgments on the current situation, and do it in a timely manner. Good plan, aware of the risk means that the risk has been reduced by half, they believe that the difficulties are temporary, and the general trend of the electronic cigarette industry’s development is unchanged.

Established in 2010, Dongguan Yihai Electronics Co., Ltd. (referred to as Yihai) is a high-tech enterprise focusing on electronic cigarette product development, production, sales and service. SXmini is a well-known electronic cigarette brand under Yihai. Since the establishment of the company, it has always focused on technological innovation, product breakthroughs and customer experience. At present, the new plant in Changping, Dongguan has basically been in normal production and operation, and some areas are still under renovation. During the exchange, Chen Zhenjiang, chairman of Yihai, said that e-cigarette companies should take consumer health as the prerequisite, adhere to safety and health orientation, do not rush to make quick profits, be practical and low-key, and concentrate on product technology research and development. Only when a company has certain core technological competitiveness can it go more stable and long-term. During the current epidemic, it is time for enterprises to cultivate their “internal strength” and to save energy for subsequent development.

Shenzhen ALD Electronics Co., Ltd. (abbreviated as ALD) was established in 2009. It is a national high-tech enterprise focusing on the research and application of electronic atomization technology. During the visit, Ding Yi, the chairman of ALD, expressed his support and praise for the Secretariat’s extensive work on industry norm development, and affirmed the effective guidance and bridge hub role of the Electronic Cigarette Industry Committee as an industry association organization. Among them, ALD Xu mentioned that with the clarification of the death of lung diseases caused by e-cigarette smoking in the United States, the confidence of e-cigarette people in the industry has been strengthened. In addition, the customer base of European and American countries and regions is solid, and the market prospect is broad. Continue to be optimistic about this rising industry. At present, while improving product quality, enterprises continue to increase research and development efforts, with the ultimate goal of pursuing product health and safety and customer experience. Then, the entire industry will surely make steady progress in the direction of standardizing safety and health, and will definitely go further.

Shenzhen Smiss Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. (Smiss for short) was established in 2012. It is a national high-tech enterprise integrating R & D, production, sales and service. The main products are disposable electronic cigarettes, reusable electronic cigarettes, high-power electronic cigarettes, new tobacco starter kits and electronic cigarette supporting products. Currently there are three factories in Gongming and Songgang, with a total of about 50,000 square meters of office and manufacturing space. General Manager Zhao Chengzhi personally led the secretariat to visit the new office building in Songgang. The layout and decoration of the office area still continued Smiss’s modern style. During the exchange, President Zhao simply introduced the factory to the staff of the Secretariat. At present, the new factory has more than 4,000 employees. The order is in good condition and production is in an orderly manner. He said he was very passionate and optimistic about the e-cigarette industry and hoped that the industry would develop steadily and healthily. Only in this way could companies have a greater space for survival. E-cigarettes will definitely develop in the intelligent direction in the future, which will bring a better experience to users. We look forward working together to keep innovating and advancing, be low-key and pragmatic at every step. And the industry will usher in a new turnaround.

A few days ago, ECCOM’s “Electronic Cigarette Business” column team visited Shenzhen Huaqiang North, which was titled “China’s First Street of Electronics”. There are more than 50,000 business merchants here, with as many as 200,000 employees, and the average daily transaction volume exceeds 1 billion. Data show that the average daily traffic is close to 400,000 person-times, and even 800,000 person-times during the holidays. This is also the distribution center of offline physical stores in the Shenzhen e-cigarette offline channel.

Entering Huaqiangbei Commercial Pedestrian Street, a red tent and the crowd came into view. The shop facing the street has been opened for business. Many merchants in Huaqiang North Main Street are already picking up and delivering goods. The couriers are busy packing and receiving, which seems extra busy.

From the scene of the bustling crowd and the express delivery of the courier man, we can see that the Huaqiangbei market has initially resumed operation.

It is reported that Huaqiangbei officially opened the market on March 1 after formulating strict prevention and control measures. The market will be carried out in an orderly manner by region. It is expected that the full resumption of work will be completed in April.

In communication with Mr. Zhang, the person in charge of the IVC International Electronic Cigarette Marketing Center in Rongda Communication Market, we learned that the center’s stores have been fully disinfected, employees have returned to work one after another, and gradually resume normal operations. Products delivered to customers are normally shipped. At present, the IVC Exhibition Center has settled 21 brand companies, many of which include RELX, MOTI, Boulder, yooz, SNOWPLUS, vvild, Flow, Bailun, gippro and other brand companies. There are 13 brands in negotiation.

After walking around, I found that there are also Thinkr, Jigan and other brands have also opened specialty stores.

Looking at the current situation of Huaqiangbei, the mobile 3C digital physical store business is becoming more and more difficult to do business, the price is transparent, the profit is getting lower and lower, but the cost of labor and rent is still increasing. As a fast-consuming product, e-cigarettes consume quickly, have a high repurchase rate, and have large market demand, so the profit margins will also go up.

Indeed, Huaqiangbei has already shown a clear trend of urgently seeking “transformation”, which has also given the mobile phone 3C digital store merchants who have always been poorly priced a chance to choose a transformation. Of course, this is also a good choice for manufacturers and brands test.

With the development and continuous expansion of offline channels of manufacturers and brands, Huaqiangbei currently has more than 30 stores and sales outlets, involving more than 80 brands, and it is still expanding.

At present, Huaqiangbei has also established a high-quality purchase channel for wholesalers and agents, as well as a channel and platform for consumers to experience products before buying.

During the epidemic, many dealers experienced stockouts to varying degrees. Replenishment and relocation were everywhere, and cartridges/pods became a rigid demand. One after another, they were looking for replenishment channels, which also showed the demand of consumers and the market.

As manufacturers resume work, workers gradually return to work, and the supply chain is fully integrated. It is believed that the supply of goods will gradually stabilize and the electronic cigarette market is back on track.

After the blank period of the Spring Festival and the epidemic, brands with weak anti-risk capabilities will be quickly eliminated. Brands with stronger strength, improved supply chain channels, better policy support, will survive. They will seize the opportunity and continue to fight steadily, move forward, expand the market and increase brand influence.

This will also be another round of reshuffle of the electronic cigarette industry, but also a test of the development and growth of the electronic cigarette industry.

With the passage of time, it is believed that the elders of the 70s and 80s of traditional cigarettes will also adapt to the development trend of the times, and the changes in the consumption concepts of the younger generations of 90s and 00s, the continuous updating and iteration of products, and the pursuit of quality will defining e-cigarettes again, the future development of the e-cigarette industry will see explosive growth.

In the near future, e-cigarettes will become another powerful choice for a new generation of consumers to pursue harm reduction consumer goods. There will be a large number of loyal consumer groups, which are highly sticky and have considerable development prospects.

How will China e-cigarette market go in 2020? Let’s take a bold prediction.

Market demand has been proven

Whether online or offline, the hot sales of e-cigarettes have fully proved the real market demand for e-cigarettes and the pursuit of new things by Chinese people.

Compared to some smokers, e-cigarettes do have a addiction relief effect. And the health degree of qualified electronic cigarettes is far less than that of cigarettes.

Most brands exit the market

At the time of the most popular disposable electronic cigarettes in 2019, there were more than 3,000 e-cigarette brands nationwide. At Shenzhen Shajing, 3,000 orders can be processed by OEM. The e-cigarettes of various styles are dazzling.

With the tightening of policies and the emergence of epidemics, some brands have gradually withdrawn from the market. Even the more popular brands cut their product price greatly to clear the stock.

Own factory brand opportunities remain

While policies and epidemic conditions have affected brand owners, they have also affected e-cigarette production plants. In the second half of 2019, some factories have already withdrawn from the field of electronic cigarette production. Some surviving factories that were originally just foundries started to promote their brands.

The author once said in the “New Retail 3.0 Era” that the three core values of vending machines: experience, product promotion and traffic. From this point of view, at present, it is the most suitable time for the self-owned factory brand to sell electronic cigarettes.

The prospect of e-cigarettes is remarkable.

1. Product awareness has been greatly improved

After the hot market and policy turmoil in 2019, the public’s awareness of e-cigarettes has greatly improved.

I once said in “Analyzing the Vending Industry with a Mask Vending Machine”: whether a product is suitable for vending needs to be analyzed from six dimensions, one of which is awareness.

The higher the user’s awareness, the greater the sales rate; vice versa. Therefore, compared with 2019, the e-cigarette vending machine sales will increase.

2. Commodity gross profit increases instead of decreasing

The market price of a disposable vape is between 39 yuan and 59 yuan, and there is already a cognitive set in the minds of consumers. Therefore, the retail price of disposable vapes will not change much.

However, as the heat decreases, the foundry cost of e-cigarettes has dropped by at least 30% compared to 2019. This will allow more gross margin for vending machine sales.

3. Quality + Marketing Achieves Brand

Many so-called e-cigarette brands in 2019 are just one name. In addition to design flaws, battery problems and e-liquid problems can be seen everywhere.

Quality is the foundation of a brand. High quality + good marketing can make a brand. The result of focusing on marketing but not quality is a flash in the pan! Only e-cigarette brands that can withstand quality can survive in the end.

For the electronic cigarette industry, the only uncertainty is to C end.

Based on my own understanding of the “steady development, orderly and open” ideology and judgment of social development trends, the author take a rough estimaste of the control measures for the electronic cigarette industry:

The second measure after the online ban should be quality control. Those that do not meet the quality standards will be expelled from the market. The e-liquid is the key to the quality of e-cigarettes, so the second step should be production standards and e-liquid control.

If the scale of the e-cigarette market continues to grow explosively, there will be a third step, which is the offline channel control. However, in view of the effects of the first measure and the impact of the epidemic in 2019, the second measure will be delayed. This leaves a certain gap for the orderly development of the market.

For some companies, one of the positive effects of the epidemic is that you are on the same starting line with the person who was faster than you.

So during the COVID 19 coronavirus epidemic, we can’t just stare at the masks and temperature guns, but take the opportunity to quickly catch up with our competitors.

New statistics show that in January 2020, online sales of tea cigarettes reached 48.251 million yuan, an increase of 143% compared to February 2019, and the online transaction volume in one year exceeded 500 million yuan. Tea cigarette seems to have great potential to replace tobacco & e-cigarette consumption.

Cigarette-shaped tea smoking product

Open an e-commerce platform and search with “tea cigarette” as a keyword. The highest-selling tea cigarette is higher than 30,000 pieces per month, and other brands also sell thousands of pieces every month. There are also many types, which are often subdivided according to the tea varieties involved in tea cigarette, such as Pu’er, Golden Bud, Jasmine, and Longjing. Most tea cigarette products focus on slogans such as “good cigarette alternative”, “healthy gifts”, and “non-tobacco products”.

These slogans looks familar with e-cigarettes. When electronic cigarettes became popular all the time, these word were almost piled up. However, tea cigarette has a more attractive chip-no nicotine.

How is tea cigarette different from traditional cigarettes?

The reporter learned that e-cigarette is a product that allows users to inhale nicotine and other vapors by means of atomization. Tea cigarette replaces the shredded tobacco in traditional cigarettes with tea. After being lit, the tea is smoked and it has the shape of a traditional cigarette, but without tobacco. Tea cigarette is actually “smoking tea”.

“Traditional cigarettes are addictive mainly because of the nicotine content in the smoke. But in addition to nicotine, cigarette smoke also contains more than 60 harmful ingredients such as tar.” Recently, Zhang Jianshu, president of the Beijing Tobacco Control Association, Said in an interview with reporters from Science and Technology Daily.

As for e-cigarettes, “Classified by the principle of smoking, e-cigarettes include heating and non-combustion, e-liquid atomization, etc. Although some toxic substances such as tar and suspended particles are reduced to a certain extent, most e-cigarettes are still as addictive as nicotine. As the main component, compared to traditional cigarettes, it is only a simimar product. “Zhang Jianshu said.

Zhang Jianshu pointed out that merchants have tried to make tea cigarette an image of good tobacco products, using traditional tea with a long history as the focus of publicity, and using people’s inherent impression of tea’s health, to induce consumers pay for tea cigarette. In addition, the sudden outbreak of coronavirus this year has changed the habits and cognition of many smokers, which may be one of the reasons for the “rise” of tea cigarettes.

According to the statistics of the authority, the popular science related to this epidemic has further deepened the public’s attention to health issues, especially the lungs and other respiratory problems. The negative image of smoking has been further strengthened, and giving and sending cigarettes may bring more and more disgust.

Under the banner of “health” and “quit smoking”, Tea cigarettes made inroads, and the soar of its sales volume was inevitable.

Tea is not good for the human body after burning

However, is it true that many fans of tea cigarettes are healthy?

“Drinking tea is very different from smoking tea. Burning tea is not good for the human body.” Duan Yongchun, a researcher at the Rizhao Tea Science Research Institute, told the Science Daily reporter, “Drinking tea can make caffeine, tea polyphenols, amino acids, vitamins in tea. After being soaked in water, it is then absorbed by the human body. After the tea is burned, most of the caffeine in the tea is sublimated and lost. Tea polyphenols, amino acids, vitamins are decomposed or denatured, and most of the released carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and inhalable particulate matter. These are harmful substances in the human body. ”

Duan Yongchun made an image analogy-the burning of tea leaves is similar to the components released by the burning of ordinary plant straws, and the inhalation of tea cigarette is similar to the smoke produced by the burning of plant straws?

Zhang Jianshu also held similar views. In his opinion, tea drinking and tea smoking are different ways of taking and absorbing. Merchants can’t change the concept because tea drinking is good for health. They also pack tea into healthy products. “Just like the meat we usually eat, fried and fried are delicious, and meat is rich in nutrients, but not all meat products are good for health, and fried foods are listed by the World Health Organization as the top ten junk food, fried meat is the worst hit area of ​​’bad fat’. ”

Smokers don’t like the bad taste

In addition to “health” gimmicks, merchants also raised the banner of “no nicotine” and “quit smoking”. Can Tea cigarette really help smokers quit?

Zhang Jianshu pointed out that the taste of Tea cigarette is not good, which may make smokers unacceptable, and it’s difficult to become a substitute for traditional tobacco.

Mr. Yu, who has a 30-year smoking history, told the Science and Technology Daily that during the process of smoking a Tea cigarette, he felt a moldy straw smell and almost no tea aroma. Compared with ordinary cigarettes, Tea cigarette smells more stubborn and is more likely to cause respiratory discomfort. “This taste is very different from ordinary cigarettes. I couldn’t accept it for the first time, and I never smoked it again.”

Earlier, some media interviewed more than a dozen old smokers who had smoked the tea cigarette. They also did not recognize the taste of the tea cigarette, and even some could not accept it. An artist also shared that It’s stimulative. ”

“In addition, even if you smoke tea cigarettes, you cannot reduce the smokers’ inherent dependence on nicotine, so they cannot help smokers to quit smoking to a large extent.” Zhang Jianshu said, “In short, the beneficial effects of tea cigarettes have not been proven. Tea cigarettes are not encouraged to be used. ”

Production and sales fall into regulatory dilemma

What’s more noteworthy is that, like other emerging products, the production and sales of tea cigarettes have fallen into a difficult situation of regulation.

“The main raw material of heat not burn electronic cigarette cartridge is tobacco extract, so it belongs to the tobacco industry internationally. Regulatory agencies such as the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau have the right and obligation to regulate them. The main raw material of tea cigarette is tea, which has not yet been included in tobacco regulatory scope. “Zhang Jianshu said.

Tea for human consumption belongs to the category of food. The reporter logged into the official website of the State Administration of Market Supervision and Administration and found the relevant constituent indicators of traditional tea, but did not find entries about Tea cigarette. It can be seen that tea cigarette has not been included in the regulation of this sector.

Zhang Jianshu said that the regulation mechanism of tea cigarette is not clear, and the security is more difficult to guarantee. The specific issues of the supervision method, degree of supervision, and punishment of tea cigarettes need to be improved by the state at the legislative level.

In fact, smoking cessation is not something that can only be accomplished with alternatives such as tea cigarettes. There are many ways to quit smoking scientifically.

“More and more people realize that smoking is harmful, especially in the post-80s and post-90s period. They have a more rational understanding of smoking and will not easily ‘get into the pit.’ This is related to government departments and the society such as the CDC and the Tobacco Control Association. The results of the organization’s publicity over the years are inseparable. “Zhang Jianshu said that smokers with shorter smoking ages can call the 12320 National Health Hotline for a targeted smoking cessation plan. Smokers who are older and addicted to smoking, or smokers who have tried to quit but have relapsed, are advised to go to the smoking cessation clinic of a regular medical institution to consult a professional physician and effectively quit smoking.

Data show that during the epidemic period, smokers have objectively quit smoking because of the inconvenience of buying cigarettes, taking care of family health and personal hygiene. In Zhang Jianshu’s view, this is a good time to quit smoking. The spread of the virus is equivalent to creating a compulsory quitting environment for some smokers, which is a good start, but after the epidemic, it is equally important to quit smoking and resist relapse.

Quitting smoking is also a kind of “cultivation”, and self-control is especially important. If you want to choose a tobacco substitute to help you quit, you must keep your eyes open, and you must not fall into another trap in order to “get out of the pit.”